Wires
by Mushmallow62
Summary: Leeron has a problem, he's not getting old like most of his old comrades. So he enlist's the help of on immortal beast man to help him discover what is going on with him.
1. Chapter 1

Another old team mate had died. The man who was most suited for giving out commands; that was better at debating and thinking over ideas than going into battle.

Roissu; who was the young boy that Team Gurren had found in that underground village all those years ago had passed away in his sleep.

Nature was just doing it's job, Roissu was old; it had been seventy years since he left that village with the twins Gimmy and Darry.

He looked into the mirror, noticing that although it had been seventy years since he left his own village and he hadn't changed. No wrinkles – maybe that's because of his great skin care regime? No grey hairs and none of Roissu's aches and pains that he always complained about; albeit mildly.

He wasn't older.

Well, physically he wasn't; which was a good thing – all those cute men that was now coming out of the woodwork!

He needed to see an old friend, the one who might be able to help him… He should look the exact same as he did all those years ago! Even his brilliant skin care regime wouldn't halt the aging process to that degree!

He didn't want to meet him, but there was something not quiet right; and Viral could know what that was… If not, it would still be nice to see him again. He missed the beastman and the threats he came out with. The capital was so… Boring... Which hadn't changed since peace came.

He needed some spice in his life, something exciting to happen… He had his machines, and was the best at creating new things for the missions that was needed; but he wanted the adventure again.

Perhaps Viral thought the same….

The blonde haired beastman sighed, no war meant no fighting, and while he was glad for piece; after all he was trained since he was created to fight, he wanted to do something to get his blood going; and a battle always did that.

Instead he was on his way back to earth, to find some more soldiers's to recruit, see if they could handle it first. That was a price he would have to pay for being immortal; if he wasn't he would have died long ago, but now he had the human's revere him; just because he couldn't die.

_Forgetting that I helped save the earth. _Viral growled.

"My, aren't we grumpy!"

That voice, it hadn't changed in years... That odd mechanic… Leeron.

Green hair, pale skin, Leeron could easily be mistake for a woman if he really wanted to be mistaken for the opposite sex. Viral never understood the mechanic.

"Why are you here?" Viral asked.

Blonde hair… It had grown, now back to it's original length that it was when Viral first attack the Gurren team. Shark teeth just as sharp as ever, amber eyes sharp and focused, but weary of him.

His uniform had changed from the blue that he wore when captain, to red. It was almost like he had returned to where he started. But was he back to being just a commander? Leeron didn't think so, Roissu wouldn't have allowed it, Viral was the only one who fully knew how to win a battle, and after all he was created to fight.

"Business first I see," Leeron told him, starting to get a seductive look in his eyes; "Saving the best till last?"

Viral glared; "Blood bath,"

"I love baths!" Leeron exclaimed, ignoring the 'blood' comment; "But first," He batted his eyes at the beastman who growled; "Oh, not here,"

Leeron directed the other to a more private area.

Viral followed, still weary though he wondered why the mechanic wanted to see him of all people.

They went into an old office, the room hadn't been used for a long time; the desk had a thin layer of dust, the windows hadn't been cleaned for sometime… The room was almost just abandoned.

"Roissu thought I would need this place," Leeron explained to Viral, wiping a finger along the desk; "Eugh… This gets old as well,"

"It's normal," Viral reminded him.

"Viral, I haven't aged! Since I met Kamina and Simon I haven't gotten older," He looked out the dirt covered window as he spoke; his voice showed that he was worried about what was wrong with him; but that he couldn't figure it out.

Viral closely examined him, and realised that Leeron was right… He hadn't aged at all. He had noticed Roissu getting old, but he saw Roissu every time he came back to earth, he always noticed the differences. Now Roissu was dead… And Leeron hadn't changed.

He spent a lot of team in the team Gurren; when he finally joined them, threatening Simon, or even Leeron; but not as much as the team spent with each other.

_Humans have found new ways to stop the aging process…_ Viral thought to himself, but dismissed that immediately. Leeron wouldn't come to him about that, he would probably boast about it. A lot of the times Viral thought of Leeron as being easy to read; but even then, the mechanic had a hidden side.

"Your village," Viral said, and Leeron raised an eyebrow; "Have you visited it recently?"

"Oh, no one lives in the village anymore Viral, they all moved to Kamina City when it was built up," Leeron explained, as he spoke he sounded disappointed.

Viral's ears picked up the tone; it was a disappointment to the villager's that he lived with. Did he miss his home? It wasn't likely; it had been seventy years since he left.

"We'll go there," He decided, as the mechanic just looked at him; "There might be something there that could explain this,"

"Maybe," Leeron said, not sounding hopeful; or maybe he just didn't want to get his hopes up; "But when?"

"I have some days off… To get readjusted," Viral told him, hating that fact that every time he arrived back to earth, he was told to take some days off to get used to the atmosphere of the climate.

"I could help with you're…" Leeron dropped his voice, and looked into Viral's amber eyes lustfully; "Adjustments,"

Viral just mentally kicked himself, he knew that Leeron could hold a serious conversation; but it would always go back to his flirtations.

He just let out a low growl, and saw Leeron smirk.

_Damn it._

Viral waited at the hanger, his gunman was ready to leave… When ever Leeron would finally showed up.

He wasn't exactly sure why he wanted to help; he wasn't really friends with anyone on the team, and Simon was his rival, whom he respected. The rest… None of them were of any use to him; however there was a time when Yoko interested him; her skills at being a sharpshooter, and being the only one on the team who was able to hit the enemy dead on; although she couldn't hit him.

Leeron just fixed up the gunmen for battle, adding little extra's that could come in handy.

Seventy years had passed since Viral fought Kamina, from what he heard now, the majority of that team were now dead, or infirm.

_Good thing Kamina's dead._ Viral thought to himself; _I can't see him being old…_And the beastman couldn't picture the man that he had fought all those years ago, who was so alive and at time completely idiotic, yet always managed to defeat him.

Could it be that he wanted to help Leeron because the rest of the team were already dying? There was a chance of the old adventure that could be created, and he would get away from all the boring debates about every planet's well fair.

"Well, are you packed?" The mechanic walked over, and Viral looked at what Leeron had brought with him; "Just the essentials. I need to keep myself looking perfect,"

_Isn't that the reason we're doing this?_ Viral thought to himself; but it was something that Leeron had done before.

_Viral had growled at the mechanic who walked way, unfazed by the beastman._

"_You know, Leeron is good at what he does… He's just a bit…" Simon tried to come up with the word that would best describe him._

"_Female," Viral finished._

"_Well… I never told you about how we met Leeron and Yoko did I?"_

_Simon explained it all; and then he said about Leeron coming with himself and Kamina._

"_He brought a lot of luggage,"_

_Viral had shook his head; "Why?"_

"_It's Leeron," Simon said with a shrug._

The beastman never argued, since there was a trailer that his gunman would pull a long for them to sleep in.

"Among other things," Leeron winked at him.

Viral just glared; _Pervert._


	2. Chapter 2

They began the journey quietly, the two remained separate; just as Viral wanted it to be; they only ever saw each other when it was time to rest and eat.

Viral hunted, it was part of his nature to do so; and Leeron was happy enough to cook what ever the beastman brought back. Whatever Leeron said to him, he didn't pay any real attention to it; he just ate and went back to his Gunman to sleep. The next couple of day's passed like that, nothing exciting happened.

Once they arrived at Littner village Leeron was quick to look around the place.

_I hope my husband will do all the hard work. _He thought to himself; as he looked into the old huts that were now beginning to show there age.

_Everything around me is aging, just not me. I don't even feel old! Is this how Viral feels?_ Leeron pondered over this thought, maybe he would ask. He glanced over at the beastman, who was glaring at the whole place. _ Of course…Viral suffered his first defeat by Kamina here. That was the beginning of the end of the reign of the Beastmen. _Leeron pondered over this thought, nearly all the beastmen and women were no longer alive, only a few still existed, but they never ventured near the human cities; so it could be lower or higher. Rossiu wanted to find out; he was obsessed with numbers, learning what the population was for every city, human and beastmen alike. Viral was the one who had to kick some sense into him. And Leeron wondered if it was a literal kick.

He wandered around some more; looking at the old haunts that both he and Yoko visited. It was odd being back here, with no one around; none of the hustle and bustle of the years before… None of the excitement of building or fixing the weapons that was salvaged from the beastmen.

It was a hallow shell of his past.

Leeron looked into his old home…

_Wires and needles; he couldn't escape, he was tied down… Unable to move… They spoke to each other, but he couldn't hear… They weren't that far away…_

"Leeron," Viral's voice came through the hazy memories; and the mechanic noticed that the beastman looked concerned.

_Must have said my name a few times… Not in the way I would want…_Leeron looked at the blonde and spoke; "My first time,"

Viral looked disgusted and walked away, and Leeron turned back to look at his old home. _What could have made me have that memory? Was it an actual memory…? Not something… Well, I never played any games that involved needles and wires before…_

Viral had noticed the change in Leeron's scent as he had come up to him; it was of fear. That was the only reason why he called to the mechanic in the first place. He knew something was wrong, but it was Leeron, if he didn't want to talk about it, why should he interfere?

At dinner Leeron looked thoughtful; pondering on that swift memory.

"Found anything?" Viral asked, having finished his meal and was now drinking his tea.

"Nothing…" Leeron was hesitant to add 'of importance'; "To a great degree,"

Viral just nodded; so he had been right, Leeron had found something, or learned something.

As usual dinner was silent, but Leeron decided to ask the question.

"What did you say to Rossiu to get him to stop counting the beastmen population?"

Viral was startled, he had no idea where that came from; why ask that question now? It happened so long ago.

"I told him it had no purpose. Beastmen can't reproduce, they would have died out eventually, the number of them would be meaningless," Viral informed him, and the mechanic looked surprised; to which he raised an eyebrow.

"I just thought you'd have been blunt and kicked him," Leeron informed him.

To hear this, Viral laughed. Which surprised Leeron, who wasn't used to the beastman laughing in front of him; needless to say, he also began laughing, the sight of Viral kicking Rossiu was an appealing thought after all.

When they stopped, Viral looked at Leeron wearily; and Leeron just smiled.

_The beast is getting used to me… After so many years, he is finally letting himself loosen up._

Without another word, Viral left, going back to his gunman to sleep. Leeron just sighed.

_All right, maybe not getting used to me…_ He stood up, and walked away, letting the fire die out on it's own as he went to bed.

_He tried to scream, tried to move. Nothing worked, his body was frozen, his tongue unable to move. The people around him… He couldn't see them, his vision was all… it was blurry… the people could have been beastmen, or human's. He just couldn't tell. All he wanted at the moment in time was to die. He had needles all over his body, and wires… there were wires everywhere… his body was in pain; mentally he was crying his heart out, he was in such pain; but physically he couldn't make a sound. They didn't know about his pain; all they wanted was results…_

He woke with a start. Sweat ran down him and his breathing was erratic.

_That was some nightmare…_

He sighed and quickly went out to bathe. He couldn't go about the way he was, feeling all sticky and sweaty; and for all the wrong reasons.

As Leeron looked out the window, he noted that Viral was probably still asleep; the sun was just beginning to rise. He knew where he could bathe in peace, and he wouldn't be long anyway.

As he began to undo his clothes and placing them on the embankment, he let the water soothe his muscles. Slowly entering the warm water and relaxing his tense muscles; he let out a long sigh of pleasure.

_It's so good to be __relaxing; the stress wasn't doing my skin any favours._ Leeron thought to himself, and looked over at the wilderness around him; _I shouldn't stay in here for too long, things have changed…_

He then heard a loud screech from one of the animals; and that made up his mind. He was out of the water faster than he had gotten into it and was no sooner back at the camp than he saw Viral dragging a rabbi-deer for dinner.

_It was only Viral. _ Leeron sighed in his head; unable to believe that he panicked over nothing; _I am getting overly jumpy now… It must have something to do with that nightmare… But how do I find out…_

"Your people moved due to the weapons underground?" Viral asked, which surprised the mechanic, who nodded; "We'll go underground,"

"Wait, we left because the weapons made it unbearable to live," Leeron protested.

"Have you found any answers yet?"

"No…" Leeron replied, not happy that he had to say anything.

"Then we'll go," He allowed the meat to dry out and began to walk towards the village.

"Viral, I do remember some things," Leeron confessed.

The beastman kept walking, but looked at him.

"When I was younger, I was… I don't know, experimented on? I had this… flash back of people putting needles into me; and then last night I had this nightmare about the same people and when I tried to scream I couldn't; and when I tried to move, I couldn't… I was in such pain…" Leeron shuddered.

"Experiments," Viral said thoughtfully; "Done back when you all lived underground?"

Leeron paused; "Possibly, it was always dark, so it could be,"

Viral never said anything; he just kept on moving towards the underground entrance.

"You know, it might not be safe," Leeron reminded him.

"I can't die," Viral pointed out and then noticed the rock that was in front of the entrance.

Quickly he ran off, though Leeron knew why; within a few minutes Viral's gunman was moving the boulder out of the way, and the stench of the underground came up to them.

Leeron wrinkled his nose; but he noticed that Viral looked ill.

"Seventy years," The beastman muttered and looked over to him; "We'll leave it for today, neither of us can go down,"

"Is it because..." Leeron began to ask, but Viral shook his head.

"It's been closed off with no ventilation for sometime,"

The two remained silent and looked at the cave. Leeron was hoping to find his answers there, and yet he feared it.

"Why me? Why did they pick me?" He asked out loud, although the question wasn't directed to him, Viral listened regardless; "Why not Yoko or one of the other's? They were the one's who actually fought, not me; I was never interested in such thing,"

This was the first time he had ever heard Leeron speak in such a way, there was nothing behind his tone, no flirtation, vanity, no teasing. Just honesty.

"That's why," He said softly and the mechanic looked at him in surprise; "You weren't like the other's, you were different and they noticed,"

"Do you know... What it's like?"

Viral nodded; "Yea. We beastmen may be created by hand, but I know what it's like to be prodded at. Ever wondered why the Spiral King choose me to be immortal and not one of the generals?"

Leeron was silent, he'd never actually thought of that before. Why did the Spiral King choose Viral over the last remaining generals? For Viral to be a story-teller? There must have been more to it than that!

"Because it was the Spiral King himself who made me. I was... Unique from the rest of the beastmen," His golden eyes looked at him, wondering if he had caught on and was surprised that he hadn't; "I am the only one who was created by two different animals,"

"Part cat..."

"Part shark," He finished; "The Spiral King wanted to see if it would make a more powerful solider,"

Leeron frowned as he sat down on a rock; "But we never saw any other's..."

"I was the only subject that lived long enough to be sent into battle," Viral leaned against his gunman; "I was poked at and prodded when ever I returned from battle, like you probably were,"

He just looked at the beastman, understanding; Viral was one of a kind, the only experiment to live with the DNA of two different animals flowing through him. It comforted Leeron, but it didn't sooth him, after all he had no idea what had actually been done to him, or why.


	3. Chapter 3

Viral had left him alone to hunt for more food, leaving him to gather some extra fire wood, as well as make the fire ready for when the beastman came back with the kill.

But when the food had been brought back, which was just basic fish; both men had plenty to think about to not have a heavy conversation, or any.

Viral sat down on a flat rock, carving up his own fish with his claws; knowing full well that he hadn't been completely honest. He _had_ heard rumors of human experimentation however he figured that was all it was, rumors. To learn now that it was true... But it didn't make any sense, why a human? He understood beastmen being experimented, that's what they were there for, after all they were beings that were created by science; but a human?

He couldn't fully comprehend it, so instead he decided to wait until the next day to do any more thinking; _We'll find out soon enough._

_XXXX_

Dawn was rising up and Viral made his way back to the cave, checking that the air was fresh enough for them both to go down; breathing in deeply he didn't feel ill, although the air was stagnant still, it wasn't as bad as the day before.

He looked over to the area where Leeron was sleeping and dreaded having to wake him up; but he received a surprise as he walked towards the sleeping area, the mechanic was already up and dressed, sipping on a strong cup of coffee, so strong in fact that Viral took a couple of steps back.

Without saying a word the beastman led the way to the cave and down, although he didn't really need a torch, Leeron did, and it would be better for both of them if they each had a torch.

Once deep inside the village, Leeron lead the way, since Viral had no idea as to where he was going and it was Leeron's own village. The green haired man weaved pasted the dark, dreary home's of old friends long gone; his old village where they had no sun, and some how for so many years before the gas leak, they survived... They survived rather well, their old village did not; some of the old houses appeared to be ready to fall, the whole place was covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust, proving to them that no one had returned in some time.

He looked around at his old home, the house he was brought up in, near Yoko's own, and out of the corner of his eye he saw it. The door. That door that now gave him nightmares. The needles and wires. The ageless-ness.

"This is where it started," Leeron told his companion as his hand reached out to open the door; only to find a large brown paw was already doing it for him.

Opening the door, Viral scanned the room, making sure he wasn't too close to enter the room; to his keen eyes there was nothing wrong, no obvious traps, and the air wasn't stale either, which confused him, but he would let that rest until Leeron found what he was looking for.

Slowly he entered the room, feeling his body shake out of fear of the pain that might happen again, even though he knew it was unlikely, this time Viral was here. His torch light shined across the room, trying to find a place to start. The room was covered in dust, however it wasn't as thick as the rest of the village.

_Of course, we haven't gone into anyone else's home._ Viral thought to himself, as he carefully kept an eye on Leeron while looking about, trying to find anything that might link to the mechanic's nightmare. However the beastman did think it was unlikely that this place was rather... Tidy compared to the general condition of the village, which made he wonder;

_How could they have... _He paused in this thought, the human's had come some way in such a short time, they created equipment that allowed them to breath in places that they shouldn't be able to, they created medical wonders to give people back their limbs... Humanity had come some way, and it was only seventy years after they all used to live underground. But one question remained; how did these people get in? As far as he could tell from outside, no one had been here; and the only way to move that boulder was by using a gunman, which would be near impossible for most people to do, unless they had permission to do so.

"It's not changed at all," Leeron finally spoke, picking up some papers he found in a drawer.

They were only notes, but what was written on them made his stomach churn. The procedures listed on them were too familiar, he could almost feel every cut, every incision that was being made on him by reading that list; and yet he knew full well that his skin didn't have a scratch on it.

"How is it possible?" He murmured to himself, putting the notes down on the dust covered desk and opening another drawer.

As Viral watched, smelling the fear and the confusion rolling over him, slowly he walked over to the desk and looked over the notes.

While they didn't make his own stomach churn; he had been part of the military for too long for something like _this_ do anything to him; but it did make him wonder about _who_ would do such a thing. The procedures could have been done by a human, but he doubted it. The lack of scar tissue proved that; however for a beastman to experiment on a human was just as unlikely, since they would have nothing to gain from it, but it did fit. Of course doubt seeped into his mind, there was far too many questions and no answers.

He smirked; _This is not a battle, this is nothing more than a mystery..._ He glanced at Leeron; _One that is unlikely to have an answer. He'll remain a mystery, to everyone. Even himself._

"We should get out," Leeron finally spoke, picking up all the notes he had found and walking out of the building.

Viral glanced over the room one more time, to make sure they hadn't missed anything, when he saw a dulled scalpel, with dried blood over the blade. He moved over to it, picking it up and put it into his pocket, deciding to go to the labs once they get back and see who's blood it actually was.

XXX

Neither of the two men noticed a figure that was above them, watching everything that they were doing, it's green eyes glowing in the shadows of the cave.

It leaped down and ran towards an old home, meeting up with three other beastmen.

"Is that it? Experiment 23?" A creature that was dog like asked.

"Yeeessss," The shadow said, pulling it's hood down to reveal a bat-like face.

"Excellent, but who was with him? That was a beastman... An odd beastman," A feminine voice stated, still hidden in the shadows.

"No idea, but does it matter? We can get our experiment back! Three of us against one beastman!" The dog told her.

"You are a fool, we need to figure out who this other is,"

"Laki, we don't need to know anything about him, the number's are in our favor!"

The female, Laki, sighed with annoyance; "Our Lord won't like it,"

"He'll never know," The dog smiled, drool falling from his sharp teeth.

"When we'll we fight?" The bat asked.

"Not yet, let them rest..." But the dog still grinned as he thought of new ways to experiment on the helpless human.

That experiment 23 had gotten older, grown up now, and it just made him want to cut him open all the more, learn things about the adult male human that beastmen knew little about, taking things, swapping parts. To learn if they had done it, if experiment 23 was indeed unable to age.

What a revelation that would be. How there Lord would appreciate them for it. How the four generals would be astounded!

Yes, there was a lot to be gained by this human. No beastmen would stop them for learning these answers!

XXX

The camp fire was lit, Viral had put the meat on to the skewer. He sat back down as he watched the meat cook, carefully watching Leeron out of the corner of his eye.

_Who would leave that object there? Everything else was taken away, why leave that around where anyone could see it?_ He pondered, then froze.

"Leeron," He said softly and the mechanic gazed at him, his eyes telling him that he was hoping the beastman spoke in such a way for special favors that he could provide.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Viral looked at the mechanic and then slowly looked back in the direction of the cave, the high cliffs almost guarding the area while they were in the open.

"Somethings here..." He looked at the fire and took a breath, trying to focus.

It wasn't human, he could tell that well enough, it was like him. Beastmen, but something... Before he could finish his thought, he felt sharp claws embed themselves into his back, slicing through the muscle like his own cleaver would have done. The claws were pulled out and he felt his muscles knit themselves together again. He turned to face the two beastmen, one dog-like and the other a bat.

"Tch, that human is our's," The dog barked out, those brown eyes narrowed at Viral.

"He's not your's any more," Viral told him, his claws extended as he carefully watched them, noticing that Leeron had backed away towards his gunman.

"Oh, Experiment 23 is most definetly our's cat," The dog spat out, the grow barely hidden.

"Good luck with getting him," Viral taunted and the dog beastman attacked, and although his blows hit, Viral just kept healing, not even trying to defend himself for the moment.

Leeron backed away from the fight, but stopped short, seeing the silhouette of a female by Viral's gunman. Turning she looked at him, a beastwoman, a mole; literally.

With no eyes, her sense of smell was a lot stronger than that of Viral's, which was how she managed to maneuver around to his gunman without anyone noticing, and the fact that Viral also had to fight the other beastmen.

"Experiment 23," She spoke softly, gently, almost like what one would expect a mother to sound like. Almost.

"Who are you?" Leeron asked, knowing that he couldn't back away, he'd end up being in the middle of the fight and Viral would have more problems if that happened. Right now he had to keep her talking, and hope that the blonde finishes the fight quickly.

"I am Laki," She smiled in his direction; "And you are my experiment,"

He felt his skin crawl at that; "Why?"

"Because you were different, you didn't like the rough games the other kids played, you liked to be on your own. It was easy to get you on your own, easy to do the experiments that I desired. It was all so easy. Then there was that damn leak! Those two idiots... It would have been perfect!" She stopped and looked in the general direction of the fight; "I'm going to take you to Lordgenome, he'll be so pleased to see what we have done..."

Leeron began to sweat, this beastwoman was insane... And he didn't want to be anywhere near her!


	4. Chapter 4

All right, I am back! Sorry about the massive (MASSIVE!) delay in updating, or should I say lack of any updates for the past… time.

XXX

Viral held the two beatmen off, all the while trying to figure out what was going on. Why were they attacking now? Why didn't they just grab Leeron and run? What was the point, did they not know that he was also beastman?

For a moment he took his eyes off the fight and looked to where Leeron was, another pair of claws slashed his chest, but he ignored it, once more feeling his body heal it'self right away.

He spotted the mole beastwoman, although she wasn't fighting or dragging Leeron away she was still a problem. He had to deal with these two fast, now was not the time to play games just because he wanted to fight.

He attacked the bat beastman, his claws slashed through the membrane on his back towards the spine, then kicked him away flexing his claws as he looked over to the dog beastman.

"Bat's never could fight," The dog sneered at Viral.

"Dog's aren't any better," He taunted, he felt his blood pounding, he had to remain focused but somehow he couldn't.

As the two clawed each other Leeron watched, while out of the corner of his eye he kept watch over the mole. He was confused, why hadn't she done anything? Viral was distracted; surely she wasn't going to sacrifice her two partners?

"I haven't heard a good fight in some time," She smirked and he shuddered.

As he watched closely he could see Viral wasn't fighting like he used to… As he would normally do. He was fighting like an animal; his claws were ready to cut through anything that got in the way.

Viral was ripping the dog beastman apart and when it was over, with the blood of his foe staining the ground he turned to look at them. At Leeron.

Slowly he walked over to them.

"Idiots," Laki muttered and turned in Leeron's direction; "I shall find you again 23," She moved quickly and Viral never went after her, instead the beastman kept his eyes on Leeron.

The man should have been scared but he wasn't, if anything he was disgusted by the blood that caked his friends body, his claws were thick with it, his face and hair were also covered with it. If anything the human wanted the other to go and bathe.

For once he wasn't going to suggest he go with him to _help_.

He was only a few feet away now and Leeron had to say something;

"Viral,"

The beastman stopped and blinked a few times, the golden eyes had drained away the animalistic hunger and now retained more calm and some confusion.

"Wh… What…"

Leeron sighed, part of relief and also from annoyance. How could Viral have forgotten what happened? He pointed behind him;

"You were having a rather messy party,"

The blonde looked back and his golden eyes widened in surprise, _I did this?_ The bat was a sure sign of his fighting skills, but the dog? _What did I do?_ He took a deep breath; _That scent…_ He turned to the mechanic;

"Who was that beastwoman?"

"Er…" Leeron looked uncertain, an unusual look for the man, but Viral just stared at him and he told the truth; "She said I was her experiment… Number 23,"

"We have to go,"

"Oh no," Leeron wagged his finger and smiled slightly; "Too many questions will be asked if we return and you look…" He waved his hand in Viral's general direction.

He looked at his paws and nodded; "All right. She's unlikely to try anything else today,"

The human nodded, although he did think she was slightly smarter than the other two, but she was alone…

"I doubt she has anyone else to work with now that those two are gone," Viral tried to assure him as they walked to the camp; "I won't be gone for long,"

Leeron remained silent, starting to pack away his things and put them into the trailer;

"What a mess…"

"He's quite a smart beastman isn't he?"

Leeron jumped and turned to face her, _how did Viral not notice her?_ He stopped, it all clicked together; _She's a mole…_ He groaned inwardly.

"I can smell your surprise." She smiled; "You shouldn't be, after all, you are mine,"

"What do you want?"

"Tch, I want results. I want to learn what my little experiment 23 had achieved in the past few years. I hope the results will be positive," She smiled; "My Lord will be pleased,"

"Lord?"

"Yes. Lord Gneome, " She said with disapproval; "Human's always will be stupid,"

"Lord Gneome…" Leeron repeated, thinking about the floating head in the jar, once a strong and powerful ruler, who created the beastmen and who tried to help humanity by keeping them underground. How could she not know?

"Yes," She said and smiled; "I will be back in favour once more. I will be back in power once more!"

"But… But he's no longer…" Leeron stumbled over his words; he really hoped Viral would return soon, how could this beastwoman not know?

"What 23?"

"Lord Gneome was toppled some time ago,"

"WHAT?" Laki yelled and he cringed.

_Why did I get myself into this mess?_ He thought to himself; "The human race…"

"How _dare _you lie to me? You are nothing more than my…" She stepped towards him; "_My _experiment, my Lord rules over this world, no _human_, no stupid _monkey_, can ever dream to defeat him! They would have to fight all the beastmen and the Four General's! They would never be able to defeat them…" She shrank back in fear.

Leeron looked at her, wondering why she would suddenly back away from him, _has she realised he's telling the truth? That humanity really did win._

"You truly don't know?" A male voice said softly and Leeron looked to see Viral, now free of blood, his hair dripping wet, just looking at the beastwoman in front of him; "Where have you been?"

"No," She shook her head; "Lord Gneome was all powerful! No mere human could defeat him! Stop _LYING!_"

"If I was, why am I with him?" Viral pointed to Leeron, who blinked in surprise; "I'm a beastman too, so why would I be with a human?"

"You betray your own kind!" She snapped; "The General's would see that you were killed for such disrespect…"

"The Generals are dead," He said softly.

"Lies!" She looked ready to either cry or fight him, and Viral didn't know which was worse. Her claws would cause a lot more damage as well as pain, but tears? He had no idea how to deal with that emotion.

"I'm not. Where were you?"

She pointed to the underground village; "There,"

"Impossible…" Leeron finally spoke but before he could say anything more Laki shrieked once more.

"_Stop lying! _Lord Gneome is alive! I know he is!"

Leeron was pretty sure neither he nor Viral had said Lord Gneome was dead, just that he was no longer the ruler of the planet.

The two males looked at each other, both knowing that the other had no clear idea what to do, but the human nodded that the other should carry on with the situation; however neither of them expected the beastwoman to disappear so quickly.

Viral growled in annoyance; "Come on,"

Leeron quickly followed him as they finished packing; "What is it?"

"She knows nothing… How…" He stopped and looked back at the underground village; "Damn,"

Leeron just looked at him and his old home; "What?"

"She doesn't know anything. She didn't know about the General's being dead, Lord Genome being a head in a jar… Your people sealed that cave up…"

"We had to,"

"But they were still in there,"

"B… But she's a mole…"

"Yea, but the other two weren't. Chances are she managed to make some airways, but not enough… Given that she experimented on people it wouldn't be out of place if she experimented with those two and herself,"

"This is getting a bit sick,"

Viral just nodded. This trip had gotten a lot more complicated than he expected it to be.


End file.
